Tag: Tinder

#MyTinderSeries: Was it Worth it?

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So, here’s my Tinder experience by the numbers.

  • Weeks on Tinder: 12
  • Total number of matches: approximately 30-35
    • Super likes: 1 (and that was an accident)
    • Highest number of matches at one time: 17
    • Matches who talked with me: 8
      • Matches who “yelled” at me at some point during conversation: 2
      • Matches who outright asked for sex/something sexual (and were refused, FYI): 2
    • Matches I met: 2
    • Dates had so far: 3
    • Matches I met that I liked: 1

These numbers are pretty dismal if you take them at face value.  I was unmatched by almost half the guys I was initially matched with, most of my matches did not even speak to me (from reading profiles, I found this to be a trend on Tinder–people don’t talk to you even if they match with you. Yes, that is weird and defeats the purpose of Tinder), and a couple had the nerve to be rude.

But then, today I received the cutest text from Tinder Guy B, we’ll call him TGB. It was a little gif of a guy making a list and TGB saying “Lemme add that to the list of things I like about you…” and I thought, this whole experiment on Tinder might actually be something more than a waste of my time. I might have actually found a new friend out of all of this. I may not have found love, but that was questionable, anyway.  What I did find was that I’m still a great match, and I can create a spark. And that was worth knowing.

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#MyTinderSeries was not endorsed by Tinder or its affiliates. #MyTinderSeries represented 1 heterosexual woman’s experience (me) using Tinder to meet guys for approximately 12 weeks. Everyone’s experience, while it may contain similar elements, is different. This in no way has to do with Tinder itself, the app, or its affiliates. For a happier ending in love, check out my first 2 installments of the Owen & Makayla Trilogy.

#MyTinderSeries: Signs That it’s Not a Match

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Now that I’ve “sampled” some of the Tinder offerings, I realize that sometimes people don’t know when it’s not a match. They keep attempting to make a connection for whatever reason, but it’s getting nowhere. Here’s how to tell it’s not a match:

  • If they say “you aren’t listening.” For most people, just being heard is a win, and when you remember what your match has said it’s an even bigger win for you. On the flipside, if your match has told you that you aren’t listening to him or her, then they are already disinterested, because they don’t want to invest in you if you’re not investing in them.
  • If you have no common interests. This isn’t going to work on so many levels: you have nothing to talk about, nothing to do together, so what would you do on dates? And if you have nothing to do on dates, where could this possibly go?
  • If you are angered or annoyed whenever they IM you. This is your sane mind telling you, get out now.
  • You love something that they hate (or vice versa). If it’s a big enough, it will break you up in the long run. People don’t really “learn to live with” things they don’t like. They simply learn how to tamp down their resentment/annoyance/anger until they can’t anymore.
  • If you want a different type of relationship than the other person. Again this is another sure breakup in the future, so ending it now is logical and leaves no hurt feelings. One of my matches asked me if I would consider being friends with benefits. I told him no. He unmatched us. No harm, no foul.
  • If your match keeps telling you “no.” If you keep getting a negative response to your suggestions, it’s probably because they want you to get the hint–stop suggesting that stuff. It’s not because they want you to wear them down until they say yes. It’s because they do not want to do whatever you are suggesting. It could also be for any of the reasons above–not listening, not something they’re interested in, etc.
  • If you feel you are being verbally abused. Verbal abuse is more than enough reason to stop talking to someone. But if for some reason you aren’t sure:  Verbal abuse leads to physical abuse. Unmatch. Now.
  • If they say any of the following: “wyd”, “send me a pic”, “let’s chill”, “where u at”, “don’t tell my [wife, husband, gf, bf, etc]” Um… yeah. That person is just straight up trash. Unmatch with a quickness and never look back.

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For some happier endings, check out my first 2 installments of the Owen & Makayla Trilogy

#MyTinderSeries: The Online Silent Period

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The Monday summer rain bathed me in little droplets of steam as I got out my car and headed into the office. I rode the elevator to my floor, pinning my access card onto my shirt then checking my phone as soon as I was in wi-fi range. Nothing.

This is what I call the online silent period.

The online silent period is the time between when you have agreed to meet a guy you’re talking to online and when you actually meet him. One day, you are having the best conversation—you’re on your game, he’s on his. You’re trading genius barbs, witty lines, and subtle flirtatious comments.

The next day, you agree to meet. Either he brings it up, or you do, or you’re both suggesting something and then you’re checking your schedules. You find a date and time that works. And then, there’s no conversation. At all.

As I’m writing this, I’ve been in the silent period for almost a day now, with 2 or 3 more days to go. As a woman who’s prone to brief moments of insecurity, this is an unnerving time for me. Part of me is constantly anxious. I wonder how he feels about meeting me. Are his nerves going to kick in? Is he going to look at my pics a second or third time then realize he isn’t attracted to me? And depending on how planned out the meet cute is, I could be worried that he’ll make an excuse and back out. Or maybe he’s realized he’s gone down a rabbit hole and the only way to get out is to never talk to me again?

There’s also the flipside to the self-worry. I worry if I have just agreed to meet someone who’s all wrong for me, despite our conversations that say otherwise. I wonder what I’m missing with him, and if that missing thing is going to turn me off him.

And then I worry about the date itself. Are we going to get along like we did online? Are things going to go smoothly? Are people going to stare (The answer to this is always, “yes, so get over it.”)

So, why the silent period, anyway? Here’s my practical common sense answer to this. Once a couple conversing online decides to meet, they want to save conversation for the actual date. No need to get to know each other any more right now because you’ll find out more when you meet. And that makes complete sense for someone who’s not a worrywart.

But since I am, I’ve found ways not to dwell during these times:

  1. Make every date prep appointment imaginable ( see “Now I have to date?” post.)
  2. Talk to someone else. It can be friends you haven’t talked to in a while, family, it can even be other prospects…I mean you haven’t even met the guy yet, you don’t have to be exclusive (unless you told him you were going to be, which is weird. Why would you say that?)
  3. Chill the heck out, and live life. This is hard for me to do. But it’s really not a big deal. Say “hi” to the guy, then leave it alone. Go do the mountain of work that piled up while you spent time chatting up the guy in the first place.
  4. Appreciate the fact that a guy wants to go out with you and revel in that warm glow of appreciation.

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#MyTinderSeries: Now I have to date?

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So, I’ve swiped right and left so much I feel like a wheat harvester with a scythe. Or whatever horror story villain uses a scythe. (Please look up the definition of “scythe” if you don’t know that word. Don’t be stupid.) After a few weeks, I’ve found some decent (code: literate and responsive) guys to have a conversation with. And today one of them, we’ll call him TGA (Tinder Guy A), asked to meet me.

WTH?

Are you serious? Why would I put myself through that? I don’t date! Wait, that was the problem. That’s why I’m on Tinder in the first place. Oops. So, I guess I’ll have to meet this guy.

Online dating is weird. It’s like a cart-before-the-horse kind of thing. Sort of. Let me explain.

Most of the time when people meet on their own, they discover each other somewhere (“I met him in the cereal aisle at Whole Foods” or whatever), you agree to meet for coffee or drinks or food, then you learn about them. Online (with apps like Tinder), you pick a person based on profiles and pictures, you talk with them to learn more about them, and THEN you meet. Cart before horse. It feels more like job search than starting a relationship.

This brings a whole set of what-ifs and questions. After TGA asked me out, I immediately wanted to go to the gym, my closet, and the nail salon all at once. It was a quick burst of almost painful panic.

First, I was concerned that I didn’t look exactly like my picture–one that I took three weeks prior. You know, it’s the “Objects may be bigger and flabbier than they appear” syndrome. Time for some OT at the gym and some new Spanx. Or a round of liposuction.

Then, I couldn’t remember if I had any date clothes. The last time I went out on a date…..oh, let’s not go down this road. Do yoga pants count? No? Not even with a cute top?

And don’t forget all of the maintenance stuff. What my granddad used to call “primping.” As in, “stop that primping in the mirror, and let’s go! The car is running!” These days, it’s a little more than what he thought. (It was always a little more than what he thought.) While we ladies love a good pedicure just for us, we don’t treat ourselves as much if it really is just for us. But when we know a guy might see any part of our body normally covered by clothes or shoes, we must exfoliate, polish, wax, paint, whatever is needed to make that body part shine. I have never had so many people touch me in my life in such a short amount of time. All for the adoration of one guy. Weird huh?

But now that the panic has subsided I looked at my picture, and I’ve gone over all my convo with TGA. I represented myself truthfully the whole time. And he still wants to meet me. I do feel better about this whole thing.

But what if he’s a dud? 😯😐 And the panic attack returns…..

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#MyTinderSeries: And then there’s me

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I awoke on Sunday morning at 7:07, and couldn’t get back to sleep. I thought, this would probably be a good time to start walking regularly again. Maybe even get a run in there. Then, I remembered I hate running.

Tinder’s making me think crazy things.

Like I’m a morning person that runs. For fun (and health, too). Gross. I’ve chatted with a few decent dudes all of whom don’t sleep, can’t sleep, or sleep like vampires. Evidently, the only decent guys in my age range that are actually single on Tinder have a million jobs, or weird jobs, or have no life outside of their jobs. So, here they are: up at 7 am on a Sunday, being all chatty, and sweet, and witty, and nice.

And something happens during that moment when I’m trying to pull the right thing to say out of a foggy dreamy mess. I start thinking that there’s a possibility I might actually have to meet one of these guys. And then I think about my last manicure, my last pedicure, the last time I got on a treadmill. Yesterday, I was taking photos of underwear for the cover of “Forty-Eight Hours of Bliss”. Today, I’m thinking that I have absolutely no cute underwear in my current size. Forget the underwear, I don’t have date clothes in my size. I must remedy this. This is crucial!

And then, I went back to sleep. Enough not being myself.

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#MyTinderSeries: Unmatching and Judgement

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So, I noticed something weird my first couple of days on Tinder. My matches were disappearing. Of course as a newbie–and an old person–I thought it was something wrong with Tinder. Turns out it’s something wrong with me. Guys were unmatching me.

It’s a problem I’ve had for years. Over 40 years, in fact: I’m cute. Not sexy, or hot, or beautiful. Just cute. (For the Big Bang Theory fans, I’m the Bernadette in my group of girlfriends, and even though no one says it because I have such awesome friends, I know it.) I’m also Black and not a size zero. So, there’s that. But then, my photos should give you a clue of that. No need to unmatch because of that.

So, I had a conversation with one of my best guy friends about it.

Me:
I put myself on Tinder this week. I’m a masochist at heart.


Guy Friend:
Stop it. You are amazing just be careful always meet in public people can be crazy

Me:
These people are crazy.
I’m really just doing it for fun and to blog about it.
I don’t expect to meet anyone.

Guy Friend:
I have heard most people are looking to hook up on there

Me:
From what I can tell, yep.
I’ve been unmatched by half the people I matched with.

Guy Friend:
Assholes

Me:
Well if you’re just looking for sex… you like what you like. You know?

Guy Friend:
Yep and that’s not who u want anyway

Me:
No.
But getting laid does take the edge off sometimes.
I’m being silly. I only got 5 good hours of sleep last night.
(then, way later in the convo…)
I want a donut so bad right now. I hate being sleepy.

My take on the unmatch is fourfold:
1) Some of these guys have Tinder Plus and swiped right for every girl, and now their weeding out the ones they probably won’t get to sleep with (or realize they don’t want to sleep with).
2) They accidentally did it–one guy messaged me something, and then he was gone. I didn’t even have time to see the message. I don’t think he knew the power or permanence of the Unmatch. The Unmatch takes everything away, so messaging is a waste.
3) Guys just passing through my search location realized I’m not just a hookup/one-night stand girl.
4) I intimidate them–I’ve done this before IRL, so it’s nothing new. In the beginning, I was messaging “hi” to every guy I matched with, and I think speech actually scared them off. Some guys have not evolved beyond grunts and guttural utterances. I was in the middle of a conversation with a guy, and I asked him a question that required him to think. He unmatched us. I know I’m amazing, so it must be the guy’s hang-up. Even my friend said I was amazing.

The funny thing is, my friend didn’t know it, but I said that I was “amazing” in my profile. But being “amazing” and being “hot” are two different things. And most of these guys seem to want to light themselves on fire. It is “Tinder” after all. Guess I’m not a match. (Ugh. So corny. How is that not attractive? BTW: Isn’t my guy friend awesome?)

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#MyTinderSeries: Deciphering codes (or funny takes on crazy profile stuff)

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After a couple of weeks online swiping left and left –I meant right *raised eyebrow*, I think I have an idea on the “Tinder lingo” in profiles and pictures. If you’re thinking about joining Tinder from reading my wonderfully hopeful posts (*snicker*), here are some of my observations (without Google’s help):

  • If a guy is hugged up on a woman in any of his pics and he does not explain who that woman is, that’s his wife/girlfriend. Look for a mentions of/hints at possible polyamory, being a throuple, or just being the other woman.
  • If a guy is “just looking for conversation”, he’s probably hoping that conversation will lead to casual sex. He’s also most likely married or already having casual sex with someone else.
  • Pics of clouds or vapors mean he’s a smoker, and he’s not going to quit for you.
  • If he has 1 pic, and it’s not his face, he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s on Tinder. Especially not his wife or his wife’s friends and co-workers.
  • If his pics are with famous people, his identity can be gleaned through what you know about the famous person.
  • Pictures with kids = the kids (and maybe the kids’ mother) come before you, his life is about his kids, he needs someone to help him with his kids, or any combination of the above.
  • If he has a pic of a motorcycle, he wants you to think he’s cool or a bad boy.
  • If he travels a lot and is looking for friends, he really wants someone local to have sex with.
  • If he’s hiking, lifting weights, ziplining, or says he’s into sports and outdoors = he wants skinny chicks ONLY.
  • If he’s got an American flag prominently in the picture and he’s not military, he’s probably a Trump Supporter.
  • I don’t know what the joke (or not) is about a guy mentioning that he’s tall–I see a lot of guys saying something like “because it seems to matter, I’m tall” like a lot of women have asked him how tall he is– but I’m going to say  that it’s a possible phallic reference. (One that’s not always accurate, btw.)
  • This one’s tricky–if he has a picture of a lawn/grass, he may smoke weed. Or he may have tried to take a selfie in his backyard while creating his profile and screwed it up. In my age range, it’s most likely the latter.

Have fun hunting!

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